Adonis Stevenson

Adonis Stevenson
Statistics
Real name	Stevenson Adonis
Nickname(s)	Superman
Rated at	Super-middleweight Light-heavyweight
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Reach	77 in (196 cm)
Nationality	Canadian
Born	(1977-09-22) 22 September 1977 Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	29
Wins	28
Wins by KO	23
Losses	1
Medal record Men's amateur boxing Representing  Canada Commonwealth Games 2006 Melbourne Middleweight

Stevenson Adonis (born 22 September 1977), best known as Adonis Stevenson, is a Haitian Canadian professional boxer. He has held the WBC and lineal light-heavyweight titles since 2013, having previously held the Ring magazine light-heavyweight title from 2013 to 2015. Stevenson was one of the last fighters trained by Emanuel Steward before his death.

Stevenson's known name is an inversion of his family name and given name.^[1][2][3]

Early life and amateur career

Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Stevenson moved to Montreal, Quebec with his family when he was seven. By 14 years old, he was living on the streets and soon fell into a violent gang which drew him into a criminal lifestyle. In his early twenties, after a criminal trial in 1998 in Quebec, Stevenson served 18 months of a four-year prison sentence for managing prostitutes, assault, and issuing threats. While in prison, he also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault after putting a fellow inmate into a coma. After leaving prison in 2001, Stevenson vowed he would never return.^[4]

Stevenson became Quebec Middleweight champion in 2004, and best amateur fighter of the country in 2005–2006. He also grabbed the Canada national title in 2005 and 2006. Stevenson competed in the XVIII Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia in 2006 and won the silver medal losing to local Australian Jarrod Fletcher in the final. It was also the only medal a Canadian boxer received at the games.

He holds a record of 33–5 in amateur contests.

Professional career

Super-middleweight

Early career

A 29-year-old Stevenson turned professional in September 2006. His opponent was Mike Funk, another boxer making his debut, at the Montreal Casino in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Stevenson knocked Funk out with a hook in twenty-two seconds.

On August 1, 2009, at Windsor Station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Stevenson defeated Anthony Bonsante by first round knockout. The two fighters came out of their corners for the fight with Bonsante launching the first attack, but just moments after the assault, Stevenson landed a left hand that sent Bonsante down to the canvas. Bonsante sprawled out on the canvas with his eyes closed, while the referee reached the count of six before stopping the fight. Bonsante had begun to get up at the count of six, but it was too late, leaving Bonsante livid with the decision as he chased the referee around the ring in an attempt to protest the decision, but to little avail.^[5][6] He also won a fifth-round TKO decision against Jermain Mackey on September 25, 2009.

Stevenson vs. Boone

On April 17, 2010, in his first fight in the United States, which also was his first time fighting for promoter Lou DiBella, he suffered his first defeat being stopped in the second round by Darnell Boone. Boone had been knocked down on the canvas twice in the first round, however, in the second round, Stevenson rushed to Boone without maintaining his defense and he got caught by a solid right sending him on the canvas for the first time in his career. Stevenson managed to get back on his feet inside the count of 10, however, the referee waved the fight off as he deemed Stevenson unable to continue.

Comeback

Nonetheless, Stevenson resumed with GYM Promotions and won the North American title NABA on April 8, 2011 at the expense of Derek Edwards by KO in the third round. He then won by referee stoppage in the first round against Dion Savage (Shujaa El-Amin) on September 17, 2011, and retained his title against Aaron Pryor Jr on December 10, 2011 by referee stoppage in the ninth round. Stevenson jumped from 15th to 2nd position for the IBF title, winning by KO in the first round duel against Jesús González on February 18, 2012.^[7][8] He then fought Noe Gonzalez on April 20, 2012 and won the fight at 1:40 in the second round when the referee stopped the fight.^[9]

His next fight originally set to be against Don George with the winner getting a shot at the IBF champion. The fight was originally scheduled to be a co/main event of a fight card also including a match between Jean Pascal and Tavoris Cloud on August 11, 2012 but the even was cancelled due to an injury suffered by Pascal. The Stevenson fight was then moved up to August 17, 2012 and was set to be part of ESPN Friday Night Fights,^[10] but Stevenson later injured his hand cancelling the fight.^[11] The fight was then rescheduled to October 12.^[12] In the fight Stevenson knocked George down twice in the fifth and once in the sixth round before winning the fight with a 12th-round TKO after knocking him down twice more.^[13]

Light-heavyweight

Stevenson vs. Boone II

Stevenson avenged his only loss, knocking out Darnell Boone with a pair of lefts in the sixth round in March 22, 2013 at the Bell Centre. The left-hander, fighting at 171.9 pounds, forced Boone to take a knee with a right hook to the body early in the sixth, then stunned him coming out of a corner with a left uppercut, followed with a straight left that sent Boone on the canvas.^[14]

Stevenson vs. Dawson

Stevenson moved up to light heavyweight to face Lineal/WBC/The Ring champion Chad Dawson (31-2, 17 KOs) on June 8, 2013. Stevenson hit Dawson with a left hook that dropped him very early in the first round of the fight, and although Dawson got up before the count of eight the referee stopped the fight giving Stevenson an unexpected knockout victory. Stevenson's victory was his eighth straight since his only career defeat, all coming by knockout. At 174 1/4 lbs., Stevenson was fighting at the heaviest weight of his professional career to date. The knockout was voted as Ring Magazine Knockout of the Year for 2013.^[15]

Stevenson vs. Cloud

The WBC originally ordered Stevenson to face mandatory challenger Tony Bellew, but then allowed him to make a voluntary defense first against Tavoris Cloud, where the winner of the fight must face Bellew at a later date.^[16]

On September 28, Stevenson fought Tavoris Cloud (24-1, 19 KOs) and dominated the precedings, flustering Cloud with quick hands and shocking power. The result ended when Cloud failed to answer the bell for the start of the eighth round.^[17]

Stevenson vs. Bellew

On November 30, 2013, Stevenson defended his light heavyweight title against Tony Bellew (20-1-1, 12 KOs) at the Colisée Pepsi. According to Nielsen Media Research firm, the Stevenson-Bellew fight attracted an average of 1.3 million viewers on the HBO network, making it the 5th most watched bout of 2013.^[18]

Stevenson vs. Fonfara, Sukhotsky

Stevenson defended his lineal/WBC/The Ring titles against 26 year old Andrzej Fonfara (25-2, 15 KOs) on May 24, 2014, in Montreal, Quebec. Stevenson started off very well, dropping his opponent twice with sharp lefts and appeared close to stopping his opponent. Fonfara however, recovered very well, even dropping Stevenson in the ninth round. Stevenson similarly recovered quickly.^[19]

Stevenson defended his belts against Russian contender Dmitry Sukhotsky (22-2, 16 KOs) in Quebec City, Quebec.^[20]

Stevenson vs. Bika, Karpency

Stevenson faced 35 year old contender Sakio Bika (32-6-3, 21 KOs) on April 4, 2015. The judges scored the fight (115–11, 116–110, 115–110).^[21]

Stevenson later faced Tommy Karpency (25-4-1, 14 KOs) on September 11, 2015. Karpency, previously coming off the biggest win of his career, a split decision win against former light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson, the man who Stevenson beat to win the light heavyweight championship. Karpency was thought to be a stepping stone for Adonis, and he was. After barely escaping round 2, Karpency got knocked down at the beginning of round 3. He immediately knocked Karpency down after he got up, and the referee called a halt to the bout, awarding Adonis a TKO victory in round 3.

In November 2015, citing the fact that Stevenson hadn't faced a top-ranked opponent in the last two years, The Ring Magazine stripped Stevenson of his belt.^[22]

Stevenson vs. Williams Jr.

On May 31, 2016, it was announced that Stevenson would defend his WBC and Lineal titles against 28 year old southpaw Thomas Williams Jr. (20-1, 14 KOs) on July 16 in Quebec headlining a Premier Boxing Champions card. This was Stevenson's seventh defense of his WBC and Lineal light heavyweight titles.^[23] Williams weighed in the heaviest of the two at 174.6lbs with Stevenson in at 173.6lbs.^[24] In a brief slugfest, Stevenson knocked out Williams in round 4 to retain his titles in his seventh successful defense. Stevenson connected with a hard left to Williams' head in round one that floored him with approximately 30 seconds left, however Williams beat the referees count.^[25]

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
29	Win	28–1	Thomas Williams Jr.	KO	4 (12), 2:54	29 Jul 2016	Centre Vidéotron, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBC and lineal light-heavyweight titles
28	Win	27–1	Tommy Karpency	TKO	3 (12) 0:21	11 Sep 2015	Ricoh Coliseum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Retained WBC, The Ring, and lineal light-heavyweight titles
27	Win	26–1	Sakio Bika	UD	12	4 Apr 2015	Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBC, The Ring, and lineal light-heavyweight titles
26	Win	25–1	Dmitry Sukhotsky	KO	5 (12) 2:42	19 Dec 2014	Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBC, The Ring, and lineal light-heavyweight titles
25	Win	24–1	Andrzej Fonfara	UD	12	24 May 2014	Centre Bell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBC, The Ring, and lineal light-heavyweight titles
24	Win	23–1	Tony Bellew	TKO	6 (12) 1:50	30 Nov 2013	Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBC, The Ring, and lineal light-heavyweight titles
23	Win	22–1	Tavoris Cloud	RTD	7 (12) 3:00	28 Sep 2013	Centre Bell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBC, The Ring, and lineal light-heavyweight titles
22	Win	21–1	Chad Dawson	TKO	1 (12) 1:16	8 Jun 2013	Centre Bell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won WBC, The Ring, and lineal light-heavyweight titles
21	Win	20–1	Darnell Boone	KO	6 (10) 2:43	22 Mar 2013	Centre Bell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
20	Win	19–1	Don George	TKO	12 (12) 0:55	12 Oct 2012	Centre Bell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
19	Win	18–1	Noé González Alcoba	TKO	2 (12) 1:50	20 Apr 2012	Centre Bell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won WBC Silver super-middleweight title
18	Win	17–1	Jesús González	KO	1 (12) 1:39	18 Feb 2012	Centre Bell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won vacant IBF Inter-Continental super-middleweight title
17	Win	16–1	Aaron Pryor Jr.	TKO	9 (12) 0:43	10 Dec 2011	Centre Bell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBA–NABA super-middleweight title; Won vacant WBO–NABO super-middleweight title
16	Win	15–1	Shujaa El-Amin	TKO	1 (8) 1:57	17 Sep 2011	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US
15	Win	14–1	Derek Edwards	KO	3 (10) 1:48	8 Apr 2011	Centre Bell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won WBA–NABA super-middleweight title
14	Loss	13–1	Darnell Boone	TKO	2 (8) 0:17	16 Apr 2010	Wicomico Youth and Civic Center, Salisbury, Maryland, US
13	Win	13–0	Jermain Mackey	TKO	5 (12) 0:20	25 Sep 2009	Centre Bell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won vacant WBC International super-middleweight title
12	Win	12–0	Anthony Bonsante	KO	1 (12) 0:46	1 Aug 2008	Gare Windsor Salle des Pas Perdus, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBC Continental Americas super-middleweight title
11	Win	11–0	Dhafir Smith	TKO	5 (12) 0:40	5 Apr 2008	Casino, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won vacant WBC Continental Americas super-middleweight title
10	Win	10–0	David Whittom	UD	10	7 Dec 2007	Centre Bell, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won vacant Canada super-middleweight title
9	Win	9–0	Marlon Hayes	UD	8	3 Aug 2007	Centre Pierre Charbonneau, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8	Win	8–0	Alvaro Enriquez	KO	1 (6) 2:00	8 Jun 2007	Uniprix Stadium, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
7	Win	7–0	Marcus Thomas	KO	1 (8) 1:23	12 May 2007	Casino, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
6	Win	6–0	Carl Cockerham	UD	6	14 Apr 2007	Casino, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
5	Win	5–0	Etianne Whitaker	TKO	1 (4) 1:47	10 Feb 2007	Casino, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
4	Win	4–0	Eduardo Calderon	TKO	1 (6) 2:00	11 Dec 2006	Casino, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
3	Win	3–0	Bonnie Joe McGee	TKO	2 (4) 1:08	18 Nov 2006	Colisée, Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada
2	Win	2–0	Ferenc Lankonde	TKO	1 (4) 3:00	28 Oct 2006	Casino du Lac-Leamy, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
1	Win	1–0	Mike Funk	TKO	1 (4) 0:22	30 Sep 2006	Casino, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Professional debut

Titles in boxing

Personal life

In 2012, in response to questioning at a press conference before a fight, Stevenson admitted to serving jail time in Bordeaux, Quebec on charges of managing prostitutes, assault, and making threats.^[26] Stevenson served four years in prison for these crimes and crimes that took place while in prison, and was released in 2001.^[27]

See also

• List of lineal boxing world champions
• List of light heavyweight boxing champions
• List of WBC world champions

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Adonis Stevenson from BoxRec